This invention relates to a ball bearing arrangement for longitudinal movement on a shaft or the like having several endless rows of balls circumferentially distributed around a sleeve-shaped cage. The cage is provided with radially outwardly facing recesses into which raceway plates are inserted.
A ball bearing arrangement of this type is disclosed in German patent No. DE-PS 12 68 442. According to this construction, however, the endless rows are symmetrically arranged, i.e. circumferentially distributed with equal angular distances between adjacent load-bearing rows.
Furthermore, it is also known that endless rows of balls may be arranged so that the load-bearing raceways of paired adjacent endless rows of balls are formed next to each other in a common raceway plate ([U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,629 Belgian patent publication No. BE-PS 80 36 34]). However, in accordance with this known construction, the raceway plates and the double raceways formed therein are circumferentially distributed such that equal angular distances separate adjacent pairs of load-bearing raceways.
The above arrangements are designed to operate with symmetrically, circumferentially distributed loads. In particular, in the case in which a force is exerted only in a predetermined direction, the ball bearings must often be oversized, since small load-bearing raceways are provided in the zone of load distribution. In addition, the raceway plates only encompass the load-bearing raceway portions, while the remaining portions of the raceways are arranged in the cage. This places stringent requirements on the manufacturing tolerances and can under unfavorable conditions lead to abrasion in the transfer zone and the production of noise.